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VTChip

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St Pete/Clearwater Opponents' Preview


An exciting weekend awaits the Hokies softball team starting on Thursday as they travel to Florida to play in the prestigious St. Petersburg/Clearwater Elite Invitational. Tech will take on a Big 12 team, two SEC clubs and two Big Ten programs during the four-day event. The games against the Big Ten programs will also count in the ACC/Big Ten challenge.

The Hokies slate of games (and broadcast information) are as follows:

Thursday, February 13
10:00 am Oklahoma State (ACC Network)

Friday, February 14
10:00 am South Carolina (ESPNU)

Saturday, February 15
1:00 pm Missouri (ESPN 3)
5:00 pm Minnesota (ESPN 3)

Sunday, February 16
Noon Northwestern (ESPN 3)

Below are some brief notes on their opponents:

Oklahoma State (ranked 13/13)

Last Year: 45-17, made College World Series, 13-5 in Big 12 (second), finished #13/12 in polls
This Year: 2-2, wins over Florida A&M (21-0 and 6-2), losses to #11 LSU (1-0 and 3-2)

Preseason: picked third in Big 12 behind Texas and Oklahoma

The Cowgirls are coming off one of their best seasons in school history, one in which they appeared in the College World Series. Their 45 wins were the most since 1994. Although they lost several key contributors, they also return several key players like junior infielder Michaela Richbourg (14 HRs, 45 RBIs) and sophomore outfielder Chyenne Factor (.338 average, Big 12 all Freshman team).

Most impoertantly to Hokie fans, the Cowgirls landed the best transfer class in the country in the offseason including our own ACC Pitcher of the Year Carrie Eberle, along with All-Region performers Alysen Febrey (Georgia) and Hayley Busby (Virginia).

It looks like Carrie may have picked up where she left off last year. During her first action as a Cowgirl, she registered an ERA of 1.91 with 14 strikeouts in 11 innings with 7 walks. She lost a 1-0 heart-breaker to LSU in their opening game, but bounced back by striking out 11 in 5 innings against Florida A&M.

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South Carolina (ranked #19/#21)

Last Year: 38-19, 9-14 in SEC (11th), finished #21/25 in national polls
This Year: 4-0, wins over Ohio State (3-2), North Dakota State (4-2), Southern Illinois (11-1 in 5 innings) and UNC Greensboro (3-2 in 9 innings)

Preseason: Picked 9th in the SEC

South Carolina has won 30 or more games each of the past seven years, all resulting in NCAA tournament bids. They started the season with a 4 game sweep in the Carolina Classic.
The Gamecocks were led by Junior pitcher Kelsey Oh, who won 3 games, pitched 15 innings, struckout 22 and walked only 4. She gave up only one earned run,.

South Carolina has one of the best overall infields in the country according to coach Beverly Smith.

“Our infield is really going to be a strength,” Smith said. “To have seniors Mackenzie Boesel (.356, 8 HR, 37 RBI) at second base and Kenzi Maguire (.321, 5 HR, 27 RBI) at shortstop as four-year starters at their positions makes us solid in the middle. Junior Jana Johns (.348, 15 HR, 44 RBI) at third base was Second Team All-SEC last year. I love the experience we have in the infield.

“We also bring in sophomore transfer Kassidy Krupit (.235, 10 HR, 29 RBI), who is a likely starter at first base. She played third at Baylor last year, but she can play a lot of positions.


Missouri (Receiving Votes)

Last Year: 35-25, 12-12 in the SEC (tied for 7th)
This Year: 5-0, wins over Notre Dame (3-1), South Alabama (7-5), Baylor (9-1 in 5 innings), Minnesota (7-4) and Louisville (5-1)

Preseason: Predicted to finish 10th in the SEC

The Tigers are banned from postseason play due to NCAA sanctions stemming from academic misconduct in 2016. The team, and especially Coach Larissa Anderson, is upset about it and have vowed to play every game like it’s a tournament elimination game. .

That’s what they did opening weekend, which actually occurred in Clearwater in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic. The Tigers went 5-0, and that included an upset of Top 10 Minnesota and a run-rule win over Baylor. They return to Clearwater this week hoping to keep their momentum going,

They have a balanced attack and 8 players started all 5 games. The Tigers didn’t run a lot - 5 stolen bases in 6 attempts. Five different pitchers recorded the five wins. Their leading hitter was Sophomore Jazmyn Rollin (.529 average, 3 stolen bases), who was a Freshman of the Year Finalist last season (331 average with 43 runs scored, 10 doubles, 10 homers and 41 RBI).


Minnesota (ranked #8/#7)

Last Year: 46-14, made College World Series, 20-2 in BIG TEN (3rd), ended the year at #8/#8 in polls
This Year: 3-2, wins over Missouri State (1-0), NC State (13-7), and South Alabama (10-0), losses to Missouri (7-4) and Kentucky (7-0)

Way up in the cold, cold north, Minnesota has quietly built a powerhouse softball program. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Gophers has started the year ranked in the Top 25.

They are led by returning Big 10 Pitcher of the Year and All American Amber Fiser. For this past weekend, Fisher appeared in all 5 games, notching two ones and one save, and recording 38 strikeouts in the 23 innings she pitched.

At the plate, the Gophers are led by two-time ALL Big Ten shortstop Makenna Partain, Last year, Partain, led the Gophers batting average (.383), runs (66), hits (72), triples (4) and on base percentage (.484).


Northwestern (#14/#16)

Last Year: 47-13, 21-2 in Big TEN (2nd), lost in the Super Regionals

This Year: 2-3 wins over Seattle (1-0) and Portland State (8-3);
losses to Utah (3-2), Tennessee (6-3) and Arizona State (6-5)

The Wildcats led in the circle by Sophomore Danielle Williams, who won the NFCA National Freshman of the Year award last season. Williams finished the regular season ranked first in the Big Ten in complete games (26), shutouts (13), and batting average against (.163), tied for first in wins (31) . She struck out 317 batters in 230 innings while compiling a 1.55 ERA.

Her batter mate, sophomore catcher Jordyn Rudd, started all 60 games for the Wildcats at catcher last season and led the team in batting average (.328), hits (57), RBI (51) and doubles (13) and was named to the All Big Ten first team. And she threw of 13 runners so it will be an interesting test for Hokie runners.

Another all Big Ten returnee (2nd Team) is junior second baseman Jordyn Lewis, who started all 60 games for the Wildcats at second base. She led the Wildcats with 14 homers, 43 runs scored, 15 stolen bases and a .544 slugging percentage.

Final Thoughts

What a great opportunity for the Hokies this weekend. This has quickly become the premier early season softball tournament and just getting invited to participate is a complement to the program.

But it’s also a great opportunity to see how the Hokies stack up early in the season against some of the nation’s best. As you read above, the opposing pitching is top notch and the opposition all have dangerous hitters so it will be a great test. I think Keely will hold her own, but she will have to have some run support and some tighter defense than we saw on Sunday. And Saturday should be a great opportunity to see Kaylee in action against top notch competition

I'm excited and took the time to travel down to see the action. Regardless of the outcome, it should make the team better come ACC play.

Let’s Go Hokies.


[Post edited by VTChip at 02/11/2020 6:58PM]

Posted: 02/11/2020 at 6:58PM



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Current Thread:
 
  
St Pete/Clearwater Opponents' Preview -- VTChip 02/11/2020 6:58PM
  Let’s go Hokies! -- VTalum3 02/12/2020 1:46PM
  What a great opportunity indeed -- VT_AD 02/12/2020 08:34AM
  No Doubt. Just take a listen to their coach -- VTChip 02/11/2020 9:14PM
  Yep, what do they have to lose? -- RJHokie 02/11/2020 9:20PM

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